One of the best things about chef Jeremy Barlow’s Insert Chef Here venture in the former home of SloCo in 12South is that he can basically do whatever the hell he wants out of the tiny kitchen. If he’s feeling inspired by a trip to his New England homeland, he can bring back a ton of lobsters and sell some of the most authentic lobster rolls and chowder you'll find anywhere that doesn’t have “Port” in its name as part of a weekend pop-up at ICH. Feel like whipping up a huge log of cookie dough? Sell it by the roll or by the cookie to the hungry kids and parents hanging out across the street in Sevier Park. Want to re-create the menu of a bygone famous restaurant? Set up your own NCAA-style bracket and pick your champions to replicate. Want to take a vacation to go surfing in Puerto Rico? Let somebody else use the space for a weekend and then cook some Tico specialties when you get back.
Barlow’s latest culinary obsession is a delightful flavor combination he’s calling “Fryce Cream,” and he thinks it might just be the next big thing. His marriage of hot french fries with chilly soft serve plus options of dusts, dips and add-ons to customize your bowl is an ingenious take on the concept of dipping your Wendy’s fries in your Frosty. (Except Wendy’s fries are mass-produced and allegedly sprayed with various compounds to maintain a golden shade, and Frostys are made using some ingredients that would look right at home in a laboratory.) If you know anything about Barlow’s culinary philosophy, that’s not his style.
Instead, he’s whipping up more natural items for his Fryce Cream pop-ups from 2 until 6 p.m. the next two Saturdays (May 1 and May 8) at Insert Chef Here at 2905 12th Ave. S. Choose a cup or cone of creamy chocolate or vanilla with your choice of optional add-ins like a dollop of caramel, strawberry drizzle or maple bacon brittle. Then order up some fries with your choice of “dusts” like salty, spicy, garlic herb-y or berbere, an exotic Ethiopian spice blend. Fries also come with cups of dip from a list of ketchup, tartar sauce of the mysterious “magic sauce.”
The final step is to dip the hot fries into the cold soft serve. Or don’t. Jeremy doesn’t care! He’s just there to make you happy with some Fryce Cream. See you in line on Saturday!
